Thread: Hand Planes

Mike

I've got a spare #4 that I'll happily donate to such an excellent cause. I've probably got a couple of spare blades and some other bits and pieces, too.

PM me with your contact details and I'll make arrangements to get the plane to you. (I can drop it off to you - I'm heading for the Hills some time next week!)

Col

Your generosity is appreciated Col, I have sent a PM.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike, I've also probably got one or two that I let you have so if you can PM me with your details also ,am hoping to be up in Perth august 10th-12th for the Woodworking show at Claremont so maybe I could drop them off?...or Whatever suits!

Cheers

Just want to say a huge thankyou to Col who dropped of a number 4, two block planes and some spare plastic totes, handles and blades he had to me today, extremely generous. With his parts added to what I had collected I have now been able to constrct four complete number 4's, with the 2 block planes he donated this goes a long way to reaching the type of numbers I was chasing.

If anyone in Perth is interested in grinding some blades for me (it will take me all day to square off the three dodgey ones I have using glass and sandpaper) I would love your assistance. I can drop over one evening or on a weekend to do it with you.

I will post some pictures of the kids using the planes as soon as we start back next term, I am sure there will be plenty of smiles on faces.

Cheers,
Mike

Another big thankyou to John Saxton for his generosity, two lovely 110 type block planes arrived today for the kids to use. I have been blown away by the generosity that Col and John have shown as they both provided me with planes that were like new, two of which were still in their boxes, much better condition than the old number fours I had bought.


I was actually back at school this morning setting up pegboards and the like in the school "workshop". I am thinking of constructing a box for the planes as they will not stay at school, we have a pretty high break and enter rate so they will be brought in for woodwork class and then return to a safer place. I am really excited about this project and will post some pics of the kids enjoying themselves - and learning

Mike I am astonished that you were granted the OK to run an options program that would entail WW but with limited facilities.

Can you you elaborate further in regards whether the options would be a probable in the future progression, towards the semester curriculum as an idea thrown up?

Could not a grant be applied for through the Lotteries Commission for intended needs to facilitate the schools needs in some programs


To take this on board under your own steam is admirable however the education system such as it is must bear some responsibility if we're intent in giving all these kids something to strive for ,some personal perspective,some self respect,as well as knowing that they have an opportunity to learn to produce and create something out of nothing but raw material!!

Another facet to all this is are there possibly retired folk within your community with a bent towards WW who may be willing to share their time and knowledge with your young folk under your tutelage?

I was lucky in coming through a school system that offered WW as a full on option from the formative years to the final schooling years not to mention the fact that my father was a cabinet maker which helped no end however I do wish you well in you magnanamous endeavours.

Cheers

John, I have a very supportive Principal (he only just started this week though I did sew the seeds for the program with him last term when he was Deputy) who is willing to try something different. I work within a small team of people who like me wanted to offer more choices for the good kids whilst encouraging the others to step up. This term we are offering, woodwork, drama, art, fabric crafts and a combined gardening cooking group (cook what you grow). As a school with many challenging children we do obtain some extra funding under the guise of behaviour management. In the past this has mostly been used for rewards and firefighting with very little noticeable benefit. The options program fits within the current curriculum and has been set up so as to be a weekly reward for every student in the senior cluster (year 5,6 and 7) who stays out of trouble and completes their schoolwork for the week.

There is of course a cost to it but we have found the support we need from our existing staff without any special allocated budget. We are offering five options plus a backup class for those who did not meet the entry requirements for that week, all for three actual classes of students, that is three classes split six ways, if you do the maths you will see we have had to find three extra staff members for that time period.

As we were a large school that has shrunk significantly in numbers (halved I believe) we have allot of resources available to us that other schools do not enjoy, such as empty classrooms and demountables. A search of the school turned up quite a collection of hammers, coping saws, tennon saws and other bits and pieces, including two woodworking benches. In all, because of the generosity of people such as yourself, I have to date spent less than $100 to set up the woodwork program. Tomorrow the first options afternoon will run and the woodwork students will be building some raised treated pine garden beds for the gardening students. After this we will move on to some finer woodwork with the aim of the term being to build a tool tote. I am hoping to source pine from roof truss factories and from transport pallets to practice, cutting, planing and sanding on before we start the project. I envisage that the major expense will be purchasing pine for the tool totes if I can't source something suitable for free.

As you have alluded to, at this stage it is a trial, however I intend to keep it running so long as I am at the school as I see great benefit in it. Nearly every student nominated woodwork as their first preference today, males and females which is a strong indication that the students see it as something different and interesting to the usual school drudge that they believe they are subject too. Should the woodwork program prove to be successful this Semester I am sure it will continue with funding next year. If I have my way it will be offered to a wider range of age groups and if at all possible all students.

I will keep you updated with our progress.

Thanks for your support,
Mike

Mike

I have only just seen this thread. Let me know if you still need help sharpening up all the blades. This would take no time at all on my set up.

I am in Rossmoyne.

Regards

Derek

Thanks Mike for the in depth heads up on getting your kids involved in manual arts.
I am not surprised on finding the interest generated amongst your students with WW being a versatile field crossing many facets of the wood medium.

The item discussed recently has been posted this morning so should be in your hands soon.

I would seriously suggest that you take up Dereks generous offer to look at your blades as I can warrant that you will rarely find none other that will sharpen to the keen standard that he employs.

Have you thought of approaching some of the timber companies with the idea of donation of timber/cut offs that you and your group can use?

Cheers

This is slightly off tangent but I started a thread the same.
Anyway had a delightful day with Javali getting one of the 3 planes (I bought from garage sale for $5.) into fine working order.
Yikes Ive always been a machine man but this "darksider stuff" could VERY easliy get me hooked.
He rebuilt a Bailey/Stanley no4 from the parts I had into what I think is a thing of 'art to be used'

To spend the day with him,see his collection built up after such a short time, learn so much myself and have a ball I salute you Javali mate.

Thanks for the encouragement from everyone. John, I have contacted Derek and will certainly make the most of his offer, it is not everyday you get an opportunity to learn from someone with such a reputation.

Today was the first day and the kids had a blast, as you can see from the poor quality photos (it is hard to take photos of happy kids who don't stand still - maybe next time we will stage some shots). Today they learnt how to use a handsaw properly and then proceeded to cut three 2.4m lenghts of 200 x50 pine in half. These were used with some more 2.4m lengths to create rasied garden bed borders by joining them with 150mm galvanised nails - didn't that make a racket in the undercover area!

Once the boards were all nailed together I used the opportunity (large, stable long lenghts of softwood) to introduce the number 4 planes. They used these to create an arris on the top edges. Using the planes was a real hit and they had a ball making shavings. After a talk about the cost and age of the planes (one is a 1930s model) and the difficulty in replacing them if they were broken through mistreatment, the respect they showed to the tools and the cooperating displayed in sharing them was excellent. In all, a fantastic afternoon, it will be a long seven days wait before the next session. Judging by the enthusiasm displayed today it will not be hard to get some of them to participate further on an extra curricular basis (before and after school) once we start actually making some personal projects.

Cheers,
Mike

Mike,

It is good to hear of and see the enthusiasm (in the young) which embodies manual talents that may be nurtured to who knows what.It is in this vein that can only augur good things for the younger generations knowing that there are other pursuits perhaps creative and of an interactional nature within their own peer group.

Thanks for the photo's of your progression towards some future artisans perhaps...whatever as long as they enjoy the WW that is all that really counts.

Good Luck with all your future exploits in bringing WW to the younger generations.

Cheers

Fantastic effort Mike, takes me back to when I was that size, just making stuff with the old man's plane and hacksaw or if I could reach it his tenoning saw (I wasn't strong enough to use a panel saw).

Best of all was shaving for hours on end with a spokeshave, making nothing but curvy bits of wood and shavings!

Good on you!

P

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Fantastic effort Mike, takes me back to when I was that size, just making stuff with the old man's plane and hacksaw or if I could reach it his tenoning saw (I wasn't strong enough to use a panel saw).

Best of all was shaving for hours on end with a spokeshave, making nothing but curvy bits of wood and shavings!

Good on you!

P

Thanks, I have the same memories, cutting anything I could with dad's panel saw, I still remember cutting a piece of wood while leaning on a brick wall near the house and one of dad's mates who is a chippy came over and gave me a ribbing for not holding the saw correctly, that lesson has stayed with me from that day. One of my earliest gifts as a kid was my own woodwork kit. A ply case that had a saw, plane, fold out tape, hammer, pincers, marking guage and some other bits I can't recall in it, wish I still had it but it all got used to death. You never see toys like that in the shops anymore, and it was good stuff.

Shavings - you are telling me, the kids would have stayed there planing away at that 200 x 50 till it was gone if the siren had not gone